Mat White photo

NORWICH – Commerce Chenango hosted its fourth annual soiree Wednesday to honor and thank its member businesses, including 2018 Business of the Year, Mayhood's Sporting Goods, and Entrepreneurs of the Year, Michael La Croce and Stoyana Petkova of Wild Owl Café.

Mike and Barbara Mayhood were awarded Commerce Chenango's Business of the Year and a merit from Assemblyman Clifford Crouch at the soiree in recognition of Mayhood's Sporting Goods' longstanding success.

From its origins operating from a house on Division Street selling homegrown bait, to its 7,000 square foot facility on Route 12 today offering archery equipment, camping supplies, guns, paintball supplies, clothing and more, Mayhood's Sporting Goods has thrived in the era of big box stores by focusing on the customers' experience.

"Our biggest competitors are now the internet, they can order most of the stuff right at home and not come in," said Mike Mayhood. "They've got to have a reason to come in: you've got to make it a pleasant experience they can look forward to rather than dread."

Today, Mayhood's Sporting Goods also has a fully functional website where it sells products daily.

"As long as we can stay on top of the game and we can come up with new ideas and new things to bring people in here––you know, a lot of people want hands-on––I think it's going to grow," said Mayhood. He went on to thank his family for their support, the staff at Mayhood's, it's customer base and the community as a whole.

Commerce Chenango President and CEO Steve Craig said to the Mayhoods, "The thing that made your story so great is you literally went from a house on Division Street – at a time when Dick's and Walmart and all these big boxes are doing the same thing – and you wanted to outcompete them in this market, and have achieved a tremendous amount of success."